Background
His father (also named Walter) had previously served at sea and had observed the problems caused by these blocks, which were traditionally handmade.
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Walter Taylor
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From the age of 19, Taylor served as an apprentice to a block maker in Southampton. On acquiring the blockmaking business, Taylor and his father developed machinery to mass-produce the rigging blocks, repeatedly and to an exact specification. Subsequent developments led to the date stamping of blocks, and a commitment to replace any that failed.
Taylor subsequently established a sawmill on a stream that runs through what is now Mayfield Park in Southampton.
In 1781, he moved to Woodmill, Swaythling, Southampton where there was a better supply of water and room to power some of the equipment by steam engines. Taylor was sole supplier of blocks to the Royal Navy from 1759, supplying 100,000 blocks a year, until his death and succession by Marc Isambard Brunel"s more advanced machinery in 1803.
Taylor died in 1803, and was interred at South Stoneham church on 8 May.
